


Do You Know the Name of the Second Man on the Moon?

by all_the_stars_align



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan Needs a Hug, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan-centric, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Sad Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, The Author Regrets Everything
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:13:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26781940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/all_the_stars_align/pseuds/all_the_stars_align
Summary: "... Mark," the hosts of Night Night chime.And oh, shoot! That starts the tantalazing formation of something at the bottom of Donghyuck's stomach, constantly leaving him in an unexplained state of unrest.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Everyone, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Everyone
Comments: 9
Kudos: 128





	1. Second Best, Always Put to the Test

**Author's Note:**

> Frankly, I have no idea where this will end because I started this on a whim and have FINALLY worked up the confidence to publish one of my thoughts/works (albeit very very very unpolished and average). But someone said to write the kinda content you wanna read, so here I am. This is purely fiction, I do not own any of the characters (if I did though, I would give them their well deserved res-) and this does not potray any actual events.

"Mark or Haechan?"

"... Mark," Johnny and Jaehyun chimed. Followed by their sheepish apologies of "Haechan-ah, I'm sorry," and sudden declaration of love (courtesy of Jaehyun, of course). But everything past their answer fell on Donghyuck's deaf ears. Sure, they shared an unspoken bond due to their similar pasts and their shared hometown languages and what-not, and people were bound to click with some others more than one, but hearing it out loud? Yeah, Donghyuck thought he was doing pretty fine without knowing that he didn't mean as much, thank you very much.

No matter how much he tried to reason their answers and use logic to understand it, he's always been a slave to his heart. And at that moment, all senses of comprehension and rationality flew out of the window and gave way to the heavy weight settled in his heart. It felt kind of like a break up, Donghyuck mused. (Although, the heartbreak of this situation hurt a hundred times more, no biggie.)

The once invincible appetite of Donghyuck dissipated after this incident and he was seriously starting to worry about how so less was able to leave him feeling down. He made a mental note to work on not being so much of an emotionally vulnerable dude (the amount of emotions he went through in a short span scared him highkey) and pushed and filed this whole fiasco into a corner of his "extremely witty" brain. A problem for the future Donghyuck, not his worry as of now. Easy peasy, lemon squeeze-y.

But if Donghyuck ate dinner seemingly a little preoccupied and more subdued and quiet, no one mentioned it.


	2. Spiralling Due to a Lack of Face Masks (10/10 would NOT recommend)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time goes on and yet sometimes, Donghyuck feels himself stuck in moments of the past where he's never felt... completely confortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 30 kudos???? I WASN'T EVEN EXPECTING 1,,, thank you i love you

Things hadn't changed abruptly after last night's talk show. Donghyuck's years of practicing at pretending things that have ever bothered him simply _do not exist_ finally came handy. None of the other members brought it up in fear of Donghyuck's wrath ~~(or sadness, but no one admitted that out loud),~~ so he was pretty secure from that end too. Besides the occasional- yet more frequent than before, but hey, no complaints- dinners and takeouts offered by Jaehyun and Johnny, not much seemed evidently different. And as the hands of a clock sped past them, their comeback was confirmed and everyone found themselves thrown into the welcomed chaos that it meant. Now, Donghyuck's a performer, and he would even go as far as fo say that he's a quite a good one (read as: _'he was born for the stage')._ So he prides himself for his professionalism but sometimes he finds himself slipping. He's only human at his core, right? However; it's happening more recently this time. It starts small, as it usually does. Donghyuck loses his cool more easily on certain days, on others he hugs the _hyungs_ almost like a koala. He stays for longer hours at the practice room, occasionally messing around with the rest of the dreamies whenever they get a chance to meet. He loses track of his meals, his skin care, his exhaustion as 127's comeback whirs closer. The closer D-Day got, the snappier Donghyuck got, a consequence of his negligence of all things himself related. And the snappier he got, the more his mind crept up at him at the most unsuspecting times. Spending basically every waking minute with the rest of the members made Donghyuck pick up on somethings he wish he never had, all the stress leaving him more observant and restless. He saw the way they caressed Mark's shoulder when he used to have back-to-back dance practice with Dream and 127, the way he stuck out like a sore thumb when he tried to join in on teasing Mark, the way they always accused him of messing about when he made a mistake with the choreography and most of all they way someone had another. Taeyong had Doyoung (only the two most hard headed could understand each other, of course), Taeil and Johnny (God knows when Johnny's finally gonna get beat up), Yuta and Sicheng and Jungwoo (self-explanatory), Mark and Jaehyun (s o u l m a t e s) and then just... Donghyuck.

Boy, did this realisation do things to Donghyuck's perpetual feeling of longing and loneliness. He was a soul who thrived in social gatherings, making people laugh was his favourite hobby. Heck, you could wake him up from his deepest sleep and he still wouldn't fail to get a laugh out of you.

But that's the thing, Donghyuck was all about the delivery. He gave and gave and gave and over time, people forgot that just sometimes they have to give back. His concern lays more with how he presents himself, his facade can not and must not slip at any cost. Attention boosts his happiness and in turn, the recharge is enough to fight away the thought he might never be able to bare his soul to anyone without the everlasting fear of not being good enough, that he might never truly belong anywhere.

His position in 3 of the 4 NCT units itself proved it impossible ad unfruitful despite seceral attempts for him to have a best friend, to be close and confide completely to anyone in their entire team. Sure, he had Mark enduring all the comeback ordeals (dare he say, _suffering)_ beside him but Mark's like that one over achieving brother, you know? It's hard to have a serious one-on-one when that could be precious time making fun and/or annoying the hell out of them. (Plus, he's secretly scared that Mark might not feel the same way about being lonely, but you didn't hear that from him.) Of course, the dreamies understood him on a whole different level and he trusts them with his whole life, he's never had a... _person._ And if Grey's Anatomy taught him one thing (all the medical bonanza's interesting but blood is a big no-no) is that everyone needs a person.

This is not Donghyuck saying that he was neglected, no. The members tried to help each and every one out in any way possible; they were a team after all. The checked up on each other, tried making a home-cooked meal to beat the tiredness and homesickness. But at the end of the day, there was always someone they sought solace in, one home they returned to. And Donghyuck never found himself to be on the receiving end of those late night pointless conversations or exchange of their fears and worries and dreams and desires. Was it too much to hope for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Henloooo! Wow, you're still here, thank you! Whether it's out of sheer desparation to read Donghyuck centric fics or because you actually enjoyed, it means a lot to me. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint and I'm sorry if I got some of the facts messed up. Please alert me if you come across any errors and tell me your thoughts maybe? This is canon divergence, I guess, as the timeline is all wrong and Mark and Donghyuck are best friends-
> 
> Thank you for your time! Stay safe, peace out ^^
> 
> also I just realized how hard it is to type more than 1k words so my simcere apologies to all those authors I used to keep on pestering for more :o
> 
> also also can someone please explain to me if it should be 'themself' or 'themselves' ith respect to everyone as a noun? it feels right both ways but also feels wrong, yknow,,,

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiii! If you're reading this, it means you decided to stick around till the end. Thank you so much for your time! This fic is probably going to consist of sporadic updates and possibly a messy timeline and most definitely typos. Please correct me if you spot any errors. Again, this is purely fiction and we don't really know about anything that goes on backstage but I like dreaming sometimes. Stay safe, peace out :)
> 
> Kudos if you liked it maybe? That would mean a ton!
> 
> Edit: I am unable to change the option that shows this fic has only one chapter and is completed,,, does anyone know how to change that?


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